Player Ratings (Primera Iberdrola): Real Madrid Femenino 5 - 2 Sevilla

Starting XI (Formation 4-3-3)

GK: Misa

Player rating: 7.5/10

Her distribution was accurate and efficient and she was smart to go long when she did. Misa was also quick and sound coming off her line. Can’t be blamed for the two conceded goals.

RB: Kenti Robles

Player rating: 6.5/10

Kenti was her typical self going forward — attempting combinations, bursting down the overlap, and dribbling at players — but was found wanting on both conceded goals. On the first, she was late to close in on Claudia Pina and, on the second, she made it too easy for substitute Zenatha Coleman to cut inside and put a shot on target. Despite the fact that she assisted the own goal to put Madrid back in front, her defensive errors are too significant to ignore.

RCB: Ivana Andrés

Player rating: 7/10

Ivana Andrés was classy in her distribution and wasn’t tested much against the ball. She was subbed off at half-time for undisclosed reasons and Sevilla scored two in her absence. There wasn’t a direct correlation between the sequences and her leaving the field, but there’s no doubt that Madrid are less stable defensively without her.

LCB: Claudia Florentino

Player rating: 8/10

Claudia looked even better than Ivana on offense, complimenting her clean passing with scything runs into midfield that destabilized Sevilla’s shape and created openings for others. She also wasn’t tested much defensively and was hard to fault for the goals the opposition converted.

LB: Olga Carmona

Player rating: 8/10

Olga was a sparkling contributor going forward. Her close control under pressure was good, allowing her to be an outlet for Misa’s long daggers, and was active in ball progression with her ball carrying and passing. She also pushed forward to make overlapping runs and fire in crosses — one of which should’ve been converted by Asllani. I downgrade her rating because she fell asleep on the second goal and didn’t track Inma Gabarro on the rebound. Other than that, however, she was solid defensively and largely kept the dangerous Toni Payne in check.

RCM: Aurélie Kaci

Player rating: 7.5/10

Kaci wasn’t the hub of anything that was happening. Instead, she adapted to the flow of the game and showed her quality when she had to, positioning herself threateningly between the lines, dropping to relieve Maite when needed, and dribbling out of pressure. She scored the first goal of the night, though there was a lot of fortune involved, as the corner bounced off the crossbar before falling onto Kaci’s head.

DM: Maite Oroz

Player rating: 8/10

Her rating could be higher if she didn’t commit a terrible giveaway that allowed Sevilla to get back into the game. Besides that, she was the metronome that kept Madrid’s possession game ticking and was crucial in enabling the all-important side-to-side flow virtue of her role as the pivot.

LCM: Teresa Abelleira

Player rating: 7.5/10

Teresa wasn’t quite as magical as Maite on the ball, but was still influential thanks to Madrid’s left-sided bias in build-up. She assisted the lucky first goal and scored the second with a powerful finish that couldn’t be kept out despite contact by the keeper.

RW: Marta Cardona

Player rating: 10/10 (POTM)

The best player on the park. Burned defenders off-the-dribble multiple times and set up numerous chances for her teammates. Picked up 2 assists and easily could’ve had more.

LW: Sofia Jakobsson

Player rating: 7.5/10

Bit of a weird performance from Jakobsson. She was often inefficient, dumping many of her crosses straight into the hands of the keeper and dribbling the ball out of play for no reason on one occasion. Some of this may have to do with Aznar’s insistence on playing her on the left when she’s a natural right winger. Nevertheless, she kept the play alive on the second goal, robbing the defender and setting Teresa up; likely influenced the own goal with a great blind-side run on the third; and rather fortunately scored the fourth (on what looked like an attempted cross that might’ve been deflected). She also had to deal with playing as a striker when Asllani was taken off, which she handled ok, though her positioning was suboptimal at times.

ST: Kosovare Asllani

Player rating: 7/10

Ironic that she had her worst finishing performance in a game where her all-round play was the best we’ve seen so far this season. Couldn’t direct a good headed chance to either corner and absolutely wasted a sitter created by Cardona. To be fair, Noelia Ramos also denied a great effort aimed at the top corner, but Asllani needs to be putting away these opportunity.

Substitutions

RCB: Marta Corredera (replaced Ivana Andrés 46’)

Player rating: 5/10

Didn’t look comfortable out of place as a center back and was caught ball-watching on the goal that Olga was also culpable for. She shouldn’t play here again unless there is no other option.

LW: Chioma Ubogagu (replaced Kosovare Asllani 69’)

Player rating: 6/10

Her contributions were pretty pedestrian notwithstanding her involvement in the fourth goal. Unsurprising given that she has struggled to see the pitch this season and is likely lacking rhythm.

LCM: Thaisa (replaced Teresa Abelleira 69’)

Player rating: 7/10

Was fine on the ball and made an intelligent run into the box to score the fifth goal and cap off a good win. She made the impact Aznar intended.

ST: Ariana Arias (replaced Sofia Jakobsson 89’)

Player rating: N/A

Didn’t play enough minutes to fairly evaluate.

ST: Jessica Martínez (replaced Maite Oroz 90’; formation changes to 4-4-2)

Player rating: N/A

Didn’t play enough minutes to fairly evaluate.